Parts of the Geeta Colony pontoon bridge worth over Rs 1 Crore were stolen last night by a group of thieves.

The thieves stole some 13 of the 15 pure iron capsules of the bridge weighing roughly 2.5-3 tonnes between January 16 and 19. Apparently, the thieves also had forged PWD papers before they came armed in broad daylight with two cranes, an earthmover and 40 gas cutters and cut one capsule at a time.

The Delhi police sleuths realised the PWD documents were forged only after suspicions were raised by locals. A 26 year old scrap dealer was arrested from the site and investigations are on to find if PWD officials were also involved in the heist.

"The case is still under investigation and no further arrests have been made. We are probing how the thieves got the forged documents," said deputy commissioner of police (east) Prabhakar.

Pontoon bridges are temporary structures that are dismantled after use. Parts of the Geeta Colony pontoon bridge had been lying on Yamuna river bed for years as it had not been in use for a long time.

"Several of these capsules have rusted as a result. Locals probably thought that it was finally being taken away for good and did not raise an alarm sooner," said a senior PWD official of the area.